Notes

The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable
Americans: Volume III

Crittenden, Robert, acting-governor of Arkansas Territory, was
born near Versailles, Woodford county, Ky., Jan. 1, 1797; the
youngest son of Maj. John Crittenden. He was given & liberal
education, studied law and immigrated to Missouri Territory,
resettling in that portion set apart in 1818 as Arkansas
Territory. He assisted in the formation of a provisional
government, vested in a governor and three judges of the
superior court, preparatory to the regular territorial
government organized in 1819.

He was appointed by President Monroe the first secretary of the
territory, and in the protracted and frequent absence of
Governor Miller he was acting governor. As such he convened the
legislature at Arkansas Post, the temporary capital, Aug. 3,
1819. This legislature enacted the first six laws framed for the
government of the territory, and after promulgating the same
adjourned on the evening of the same day sine die. He was sent
to Washington, D.C., to secure special legislation for the
territory in 1820 and was its secretary, 1819-29. He was one of
the famous "townsite committee" which purchased and became the
owner of the site of Little Rock and made the place the state
capital. He founded the Advocate as a Whig organ in Little Rock.
In 1827 his Support of Robert C. Olden against Henry W. Conway
as territorial delegate to congress led to a challenge from
Delegate Conway. Crittenden appealed to Conway to perform his
duty to the territory by meeting the obligations of his office
and if on his return from Washington nothing short of what he
then demanded would satisfy him, he (Crittenden) would meet his
demands. On receiving this conciliatory note Conway published
Crittenden as a coward and thus cut off all honorable
accommodation but the field. The duel was fought Oct. 29, 1827.
Mr. Crittenden was accompanied to the field by his brother, John
J. Crittenden, with whom he had studied law and who had just
been removed from the office of U.S. district attorney by
President Jackson, and Col. Ben Dosha acted as his second. Mr.
Conway was mortally wounded and Mr. Crittenden escaped
uninjured. He was prominently mentioned as an available
candidate for U.S. senator when the territory should be admitted
to statehood, but he died before that event. He was married Oct.
1, 1822, to Ann Innes Morris, near Frankfort, Ky., and they had
four children born in Little Rock, Ark. He died at Vicksburg,
Miss., Dec. 18, 1834.

"Robert Crittenden was born in Kentucky, on January 1, 1797.
Crittenden spent a year in the army and was discharged a first
lieutenant. He spent time as a captain during the Seminole War
and studied law thereafter in Russellville. Albert Pike
characterized Crittenden as “a thoroughly well-bred Kentucky
gentleman.” Crittenden was the first acting governor of the
Arkansas Territory and championed the creation of the capitol in
Little Rock. Source: Alonzo D. Camp, "Ferries Over the
Arkansas," Pulaski County Historical Review, 29 (Fall 1981),
52-60

Robert Crittenden had operated a ferry at Little Rock for some
time before 1832, where the old Military Road came in from
Memphis. Source: Arkansas Gazette, May 21; 28, 1967.

A Letter to his brother, John Jordan Crittenden, on May 4, 1834.

"I had been imprudent enough some seven years ago to become
security for about four thousand dollars, every cent of which I
have been compelled to pay - I had sold my ferry and other
property to enable me to build my house. When the house was
half finished, a court of chancery set aside erroneously the
contract and compelled me to refund and take back the departed
property. At that time there was no appeal - and thus I was
left with all my debts upon me and the expensive building, with
all my resources dried up. -My embarrassments were seized upon
as a certain means of ascertaining my ruin, and no labour was
spared in collecting my debts and pressing me for the money."
Source: Arkansas Gazette, May 28, 1967. Photo Source: William
F. Pope, Early Days in Arkansas, (Little Rock: Frederick W.
Allsopp, 1895) p.
http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/FT_Indian_Removal/People&Places/robert_c
rittenden.htm

3 Robert Crittenden, Secretary of Arkansas Territory b: January
01, 1797 in near Versailles, Woodford County, Ky., d: December
18, 1834 in Vicksburg, Warren County, Miss. Mortally wounded
Henry Wharton Conway in a duel on October 29, 1827. : Crittenden
County, Ark. is named for him;

Robert Crittenden Shaped Territorial Arkansas

VICKSBURG — We report, with sadness, the death of Robert
Crittenden on December 18, 1834, in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Born in 1797 in Kentucky, Crittenden served as Arkansas’s first
territorial secretary. Appointed in 1819 by President James
Monroe, he served until 1829, when President Andrew Jackson
replaced him with William Fulton.

As secretary, Crittenden exerted great influence over Arkansas,
and as a result, caused great controversy. He served as acting
governor during the absences of the appointed governors, James
Miller and George Izard. Crittenden arrived in Arkansas to
assume his duties a full six months before Miller. By the time
Miller arrived, the territorial government had been established
by Crittenden, and all appointed officials in the territory owed
their jobs to the secretary. Crittenden was also one of those
responsible for the relocation of the capital from its original
site at Arkansas Post upriver to Little Rock in 1821.

Largely because of his assumption of authority, Crittenden made
many enemies. The grudges during Crittenden’s term as secretary
led to the creation of factions in Arkansas politics. The
anti-Crittenden group became the basis of Arkansas’s Democratic
Party.

The most famous incident of Crittenden’s tenure was his duel
with Henry Conway. Conway was Arkansas’s territorial delegate to
Congress, elected in 1823 and reelected in 1825 with
Crittenden’s support. A split developed between the two men in
1826. When Conway ran again in 1827, Crittenden supported
Conway’s opponent, Robert Oden. Conway had the support of the
Arkansas Gazette and its editor, William Woodruff. After a
particularly nasty campaign, Conway emerged as the winner.
Crittenden then challenged Conway to a duel. The two men met
October 29, 1827, on the east bank of the Mississippi River,
because dueling was illegal in Arkansas. Conway was wounded in
the duel and died 11 days later.

After Crittenden’s term as territorial secretary ended, he
practiced law in little Rock and continued to have some
influence politically. In 1831, his faction won a majority of
the seats in the Arkansas legislature, which then tried to help
Crittenden financially.

The federal government had given Arkansas ten sections of public
land to sell. The money from the land sale was to be used to
build a capitol building. Crittenden offered to exchange his
Little Rock mansion for the ten sections of land. The home could
be used as a capitol without having to build one and Crittenden
could sell the land.

The legislature passed the bill authorizing the exchange, but
Governor John Pope vetoed it. The governor’s action turned out
to be a wise one, for the land sold for $32,700, while
Crittenden’s house sold for $6,700.

In 1833, Crittenden started a newspaper to represent his
faction’s political views. He called it the Arkansas Advocate.
Also in 1833, Crittenden ran for the position of delegate to
Congress, a post that had been held since Henry Conway’s death
by Conway’s cousin, Ambrose Sevier. Sevier defeated Crittenden
by an overwhelming margin.

Crittenden returned to his law practice until his death in
Vicksburg, where he was arguing a case before the western
division of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
http://www.oldstatehouse.com/educational_programs/classroom/arkan
sas_news/detail.asp?id=401&issue_id=15&page=3